Shortage Of Priests Shifts School Authority To Lay People

September 23, 1988|By Flynn McRoberts.

Much hand-wringing has been done in the Roman Catholic Church in the last few years over the declining numbers of young people entering the clergy. At St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, they`ve found hope amid those dire figures.

``I think there`s something good about that-the fact that there are fewer priests today,`` said Rev. Charles Bolser, the principal. ``It`s forcing the total church to become better, to become more responsible.``

The lay people at St. Viator are doing just that: In a move that reflects a growing trend among high schools in the Chicago archdiocese, St. Viator has established a lay Board of Trustees that will have policy-making power.

Since the founding of the school in 1962, it has been governed solely by its owners, the Clerics of St. Viator. But the new 14-member board will include only 2 Viatorians.

The lay board will have final authority in all areas except approval of the budget, selection of principals and changes in the mission of the school, Father Bolser said. In those three areas, the board will make recommendations to the five-member Viatorian Board of Governors.

The decision to establish a lay board of trustees, church officials say, is both an acknowledgement of declining numbers of clergy and an attempt to take advantage of the talents of lay church members.

``The diminishing number of clergy is forcing the lay community to take more responsibility in the leadership of the church,`` Father Bolser said.

He said the lay board was created ``to broaden the ownership of the school-ownership meaning decision-making and authority.``

Charles Pinto, director of secondary schools for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, said St. Viator`s move to create a lay board of trustees is part of a trend in which religious orders, which own 43 of the 53 Catholic high schools in the archdiocese, are seeking ``alternative sponsorship.``

``The change we`re seeing is that more and more of the religious orders are inviting laymen . . . to join with them in that sponsorship,`` Pinto said. Last October, the archdiocese sponsored a workshop for Catholic high school principals on the subject of getting the laity involved in governing church schools. The topic of the seminar: ``Models of Governance for the Future.``

It is that future to which Frank Covey is looking. Covey, of Mt. Prospect, will be the first chairman of St. Viator`s Board of Trustees.

``These are some exciting times for schools. The added insights and added points of view should be very helpful,`` said Covey.